RoseCity Quilter Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Grrrr...I have spent the entire day trying to solve a problem. I am getting (for lack of a better word) little knots on the back of the quilt. If I pick at them with a pin, they come undone into a long loop. Otherwise the tension is perfect. I am currently using King Tut thread, but it happened on the last quilt with Rainbow as well. We have cleaned, changed needles, cleaned, changed bobbin cases, cleaned, retimed, changed needle again, cleaned, checked positon of 3 hole guide, cleaned........ Any other ideas? Why do these things always happen when APQS is closed and I am trying to meet a deadline????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Is it the bobbin thread or top thread? If it is the bobbin thread your backlash spring isn't working well enough is my guess. If it is the top thread you need to tighten your tension. The only other thing I can think for you to try is a thread net if it is upper thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamarack Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Do you use a net over your top thread cone? That might help prevent the thread from pulling off the cone unevenly and that might be what is causing it. I have had this happen once but just tightened the top thread and it stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I think your top thread is too loose. I say tighten your top thread to the point of breaking and then turn the tension knob back a bit. I think really the trick to all of this tension game is to keep your top as tight as possibly can without breaking. If you achieve that your tension is good and you should not have the knots on the back. Keep adjusting top tension until you get no breaks. PS: If it helps, go a wee bit looser in the bobbin, but when doing that you have to go tighter in the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Sounds like bobbin backlash to me. Either your backlash spring is broken or worn out. The bobbin genie washers can help a bit with this. If you don't have any, you can go to the store and get some baking parchment, cut out little "washers" about the size of your bobbin, dampen them with a bit of machine oil, and put them in your bobbin case. It may help to create sufficient drag to stop that from happening. I'm assuming this happens mostly in a curve or where you reach a point? Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 It is the top thread making the funny knot on the bottom of the quilt. Yes I am using a thread net. I have the top tightened to much I am getting eyelashes on the top and still these annoying knots about once every 12" on the bottom. edit: I have tryed to top tension eyerywhere from loose to so tight I get the eyelashes and it breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I agree with Linda, sounds like bobbin backlash to me..be sure that your little spring things in your bobbin are sticking up enough or try the bobbin genies, or maybe the magnetic bobbins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I have had nooooo luck with bobbin genies, I do not have magnetic bobbins to try (will be looking at them at HMQS- too expensive to ship up here), and I have tried 3 different bobbin cases that all where working before. It is the top thread making the knot on the bottom, so I am not sure how it could be the bobbin, but I did ask for advice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 In my experience with getting knots on the back like that its as Shana stated...the top tension is to loose....the bobbin is pulling the thread to the back and the knots are caused by the flick of the thread as the bobbin thread comes around again. Or at least that's what I figured out by how the knots came undone. I would also suggest as Shana did to tighten to the point of either top thread breaking or to tight to pull through the disks and then loosen from there and loosen till you get it. Sorry your having problems, there isn't anything worst than this and honestly we all have to go through it till we find the sweet spot for each of our machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 sounds like it's snagging on something to me. in the bobbin area. I'd check all thread guides, and the throat plate and the race/hook, underneath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Hi Ardelle, I have this problem ALWAYS with King Tut. The thicker thread needs some special handling. Slather with Sewer's Aid --especially with your recent post about your static electricity problem. Use a net. Thread the 3-hole above the tensioner up the first and down the last hole. Loosen the top thread a bit and run the bobbin at 17 on the Towa--or just a normal crawl drop-test. Stitch length at 11 or 10. Make sure the top is a bit slack on the rollers. Another thing which has worked for me is to turn the needle eye slightly to the right--but I don't necessarily recommend it. Even with this set-up, I will still get an occasional knot on the back and use a tiny crochet hook to pull it into the batting. It is frustrating, though--which has caused me to use Tut less and less. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabelongarm Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Ardelle: I have some magnetic pre-wounds if you want to try them --- let me know your colour and I can see if I have the right colour and enough!! I also have a new bobbin case if you want to try that. I will send you an U2U with my phone number. Joanne Flamand Artistic Quilt Designs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Originally posted by ffq-lar I have this problem ALWAYS with King Tut. The thicker thread needs some special handling. Slather with Sewer's Aid Good luck! Agree! I use Sewer's Aid with Tut when it gives me issues. It really helps. I try (if at all possible) to always run threads like this through all three holes. It helps tame the thread before it hits the take up lever and needle. If you need to, go looser in the bobbin so it is dropping steady down like a spider. I don't have a Towa gauge so that is what I do. And go as tight as possibly can on top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Thanks for all the advice. It will have to wait till Monday now to try anything else- family is home for Easter Sunday I will try to run with a tighter tension. Like I said the same thing happened with the last quilt and it was Rainbow thread. I had also slathered the spool with sewer's aid. After quilting on my Milli for 2 years you'ld think I would have it figured out by now...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Ardelle, Those little knots are slip knots and are usually caused by the thread twisting more than it should as it moves through the thread path. As it keeps twisting it finally reaches a stage where, when the take up lever comes down and the twisted thread passes through the tension disks, the thread relaxes just enough to form the slip knot on the back. Watch the twist of the thread and try changing the path through the three hole guide to help prevent it from twisting (e.g. Weave it in and out instead of around and around, or reverse the twist by entering the first hole from the top and then wrapping the thread around instead of coming from the underside for the first hole.) A thread net can help along with a piece of batting in the large thread guide above the cone. In addition, Check that your three hole guide by the tension disks points from 8:00-2:00 and that the check spring comes down to 9:00 when you pull thread through the needle (but not much further than that.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoAnnHoffman Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Is your batting real thin. I noticed if you can pinch the batting between your fingers and feel nothing it will give you bad tension. You need someplace for the knot to land. Ideally in the middle of your batting. Are you running King Tut in the bobbin too? Are you running a cone or a spool? I am not a fan of king tut but if you use so fine in the bobbin it seems to work better. I also use so fine in the bobbin for rainbows. I only wrap the rainbow around two holes in the 3 hole bar above the tension disks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 Thanks Dawn and JoAnn. The twisted thread makes sense to me. I will be back at work tomorrow and will give some of these things a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 Just wanted to tell the end of the story. Did not get to work Monday, family stayed longer than expected. So today (Tue) I took the quilt off and put on my practive piece and started playing.I now think it was a compination of things. Linda, you were right, tension not tight enough- took me quite awhile, but finally got it. Dawn, you were also right. When I changed the thread path it helped as well. I also kept pulling on the thread and feeling it and notice it would be really tight then really loose. I was puzzled for awhile, then figured out the thread "sock" I was using was too tight for the size of King Tut spools. I have never liked the nylon thread nets, find they cause problems of their own, so I use the tubular bandaid and I went and got a larger size for the King Tut and then it pulled off nice and constant! And then I was away- finished one and a half quilts today! So Thanks again everyone for all your help!!!!!!!!!!! I do not know where I would be without this forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cblevins Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 Ardelle what is a tubular bandaid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 Cheri it's available in the 1st aid section of some drug stores, sold by the yard. It's a knitted tube used to cover wounds on fingers, arms etc. Comes in several sizes. I like it better than the nylon thread nets as it is soft and the ends of the nylon thread nets seem to catch the thread when I try them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 I'm so glad your problem has been solved. I will have to try the knitted tube you used, as I often have the same trouble with King Tutt. When I pull the thread through the needle, it will come off the cone easily, then is becomes hard to pull, then easy again. No wonder I have a hard time with it. I found the mesh nets that I have only made it worse (or, at least they didn't help). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 I am glad this was resolved. From my experience, knots on bottom mean top tension is not tight enough. And I have come to believe we (in general) tend not to tighten top tension enough and that results in a lot of our problems with tension. PS: I don't like those nasty unforgiving plastic thread nets either. When I need to use a thread net, I use knee high panty hose!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cblevins Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 Thanks Ardelle!!!! We hate the plastic thread nets but didn't know we had choices! Shana, knee highs are a great idea too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted May 15, 2011 Report Share Posted May 15, 2011 I tried the tubular socks and a my quilting tension is now solved. I put socks on all my top threads now. I suffered from tension blues until Magna Glide bobbins came along. Life is great and I am having so much fun quilting. Corey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted May 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2011 Originally posted by Corey I tried the tubular socks and a my quilting tension is now solved. I put socks on all my top threads, For over 3 years I suffered tension blues until Magna Glide bobbins came along. Life is great and I am having so much fun quilting. Corey \\ Aren't they great! Glad they helped.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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